Insiders Fight to Stay at the Trough & Kent Loses Out ‘Asa Kent resident | was deeply disappointed in the clear shortage of effort that Valley Medical put into Its search for sites for putting a Free Standing Emergency Center in Kent. | could have showed them a hhalf dozen sights and they could've found them by themselves if they bothered to look. The biggest city in Valley's taxing district is in Kent. The need is much greater, especially by the low income residents for whom Valley Medical is set up to serve, in Kent. It is shocking and hard to believe that our public hospital district has chosen to transfer tax dollars from Kent, a place where care is most needed, to the more affiuent Covington. Covington already has a much larger facility that is already being expanded by a non-profit that isn’t seeking a tax subsidy. Valley's Administration and majority of its Commissioners have lost sight of why they exist. It is not to Use their public subsidy and focus on maximizing profits by catering to affluent areas of the district while cashing in their checks from areas that have less service and less cash — it is to provide care where the care is needed. That won't be In Covington, Its in Kent, Unfortunately Valley's top administration seems focused on keeping the good times rolling. The Commission pays huge wages & bonuses to its CEO and top staff. Those that benefit by feeding at the public trough want to keep it coming and are really snarling at anyone who they see as a threat to those huge pay days. Other public bodies are trying to focus on cost effectiveness and keeping their overhead low. Unfortunately, Valley is spending like there is no tomorrow on its top administrators. | spent years as a City Councilor in Kent and what | see at Valley Is very troubling. Here is an organization that doesn’t seem to have had much oversight by the elected Hospital Commission. No ‘one paid much attention to Valley or even realized how much of our property tax goes to them until some of the scandals started coming out and now, after @ couple election cycles we have some reformers on the Commission who are actually trying to provide oversight. The response from the status quo of administrators and top staff who are on the gravy-train is disgusting, They've turned on those reformers and are attacking them viciously and are using public resources to do so. This is something that all of us who care about democracy should be deeply concerned about. ‘The mission of a public hospital district is catering to those who have needs — not to those who have money and can help increase bonuses of the CEO and his top administrators. Valley Medical isa sick organization. It needs more oversight and reform, not beating up on those trying to get it to actually carry out its mission. ‘There needs to be some truth in advertising too. Valley is spending huge amounts of our tax dollars on. their latest advertising campaign touting that they're one of the 10 top hospitals in the country. That simply isn’t true, When you dig into their claims, they received one award from one organization in the Midwest that they are one of the top places to work — but not one of the top places for getting health carel_| guess when the CEO is by far the highest paid public official in Washington State and he keeps his top people at those tax-fattened wages too, sure they'll say itis a great place to work. I'd like to see them actually get those awards for care, not benefits to fatcats paid by hardworking taxpayers. Valley scores far below most other hospitals in the region for its quality of care and doesn’t even score well inmost NW competitions as a top place to work. They should be putting money into improving thei quality of care, not finding 2 far-away competition to do well in and then spend our tax money crowing about it, while twisting those claims far beyond what they was even won. Finally, while Kent should have been seriously considered for the Free Standing Emergency Center, and it wasn’t, Valley should at the very least put in an Urgent Care Clinic in Kent. There may not be as much ens should be worth something too. ‘money in Kent as in Covington but the lives of Kent Sincerely, Gand k Binns James R. Bennett April 18, 2010